Do you Kickstart?

November 19th, 2012, 00:55

I've backed a few projects, but certainly not many. I take a bit of convincing, but when I'm convinced I tend to go in big (e.g $500 on Eternity).

I really hope the bigger projects actually deliver solid games, because it could lead to more waves of good Kickstarter projects. For now, I feel many are holding back a bit because they've already invested in quite a few projects.

I've backed quite a few. 12 successful, 4 failures. I'm fairly conservative with my money in general so it surprises me that I've spent as much as I have on these without having seen any return from them. I was happy to go "over budget" for Project Eternity because I expect it to be worth it.

I keep telling myself that I'm going to pull back until I start seeing some deliveries but there have been too many decent projects popping up that I'm still willing to put in a little here and there but it will be near the minimum unless its the perfect project.

I have backed 29 projects so far, but no huge sums to either of them. My interest in mainstream gaming has been vaning for years, due to several negative trends for which I believe publishers are to blame. In no particular order:

- DRM: These days, whenever a new game I would be interested in is announced, my first question is about how the publisher will hinder me (as a paying customer) from playing it. If I believed DRM stopped piracy, I would probably accept it, but as it is, I will in many cases actually just be getting a product which is worse than what the pirates are getting.

- Lowest common denominator: platform. In order to make the highest return on investment, most games will be designed to work well on several platforms, including consoles. But I want games which make the good use of the platform I am actually using. As an example, consider the menu systems for games like Risen 2 (bad interface) or Skyrim (horrible interface). These are designed to work well with consoles, and the result is that the PC interfaces suffer.

- Lowest common denominator: gameplay. Again, return on investment dictates that publishers need to get their games out to as many people as possible, and thus, games must be designed to appeal as broadly as possible. Complexity must be kept down, because Joe Average doesn't like to think. Difficulty must be kept down, because Joe Average doesn't like to get frustrated. The game concept must not be too different from Call of Duty, because we know that Joe Average likes Call of Duty.

- Games designed around business models. Look no further than Diablo 3 for an example of a game I could otherwise have been quite interested in. The always online component and the auction house have nothing to do with providing a good experience for the players, the reasons they are there are purely financial.

In general I feel that the emphasis is on money when decisions are made regarding mainstream games. I of course fully understand this, and everybody has to make a living, but the balance of these things has been completely been thrown off, and in the least favorable direction. I want game related desicions to made, at least in a large part, by people who care mostly about the actual games, and who take pride in what is created.

And this is why I like crowd funding, for it puts power in the hands of developers and players, both of which actually care about the games. I don't know for certain if people like Chris Avellone or Brian Fargo will deliver amazing games in the end, but I do trust that they will actually try, and that is something I am willing to pay for.

I've backed 15 projects (all with the intent of getting the game) and only three KSers were unsuccessful. I think I'm going to change my strategy and no longer give any project big bucks, but there are a ton of projects I can give between 1 to 5 dollars to that are sorta interesting but I have no desire for their product.

because I liked the concept, and I pledged close to the point where there was a high probability of receiving funding, and pledging at the tiers I did essentially gets me the game for about half of what it will probably retail for.

My first was Giana Sisters, then came the Guido Henkel game that didn't get funded, followed by Dreamfall Chapters and quickly thereafter Torment: Tides of Numenera. Looking at that short but meaningful track record, I guess so far it's nostalgia going hand in hand with hope for the future.

— "Mystery is important. To know everything, to know the whole truth, is dull. There is no magic in that. Magic is not knowing, magic is wondering about what and how and where." ~ Cortez, from The Longest Journey

Currently 23 projects backed and still only 3 unsuccessful fundings. However, one of the three is back on Kickstarter (Consortium) and it looks like they might make it this time.

What is going to be interesting is how many of those projects that were successfully funded come to fruition. My guess is of the 20 so far there are two I question if they will complete their project. But if my guess is true, that equals a 90% investment rate. And I would be a very happy gamer if that were to come to pass.

I'm up to 20 total / 4 failures / 0 deliveries / 6+ overdue. 1 is shipped or should shipping in next 5 days. Expeditions delivered something close to final but pulled back at last minute so not quite willing to count it yet.

Not clear whether the investments are worthwhile yet but not fretting anything as I've not invested anything I cannot afford and I really want the projects and not sure they all would be done if not for everyone contributing.

The frustrating part now is the wait for final delivery. I've tried not paying attention and taking a long view and it will be done when its done but hard to not fall into that trap. The one shipping this week is 5 months overdue but I'm sure its going to be worth it so no harm. Actually its instructive in seeing how the sausage is made and how important good PR people are for a company.

74 projects until the moment, 16 are non-game projects (of these 13 finished sucessfully, 1 failed and the other 2 are in progress yet). Of the game projects, 17 failed or were canceled (of these, 4 returned for a second sucessfull atempt) and only 3 are running yet (2 already funded and the other only a miracle saves now), but always modest values (I only pledge digital-only tiers), in only 3 projects I entered the $100+ area

also backed Thorvalla and was planning on backing Ars Magica before it failed.

I never put up more than 150$. I'm just not interested in becoming an NPC or putting my name on an item, sry. OTOH, if it's a promising game with some nice physical goodies (cloth maps!) I usually go for that tier.

The way I am going, it takes me a year or 2 (or sometimes more) to get around to playing, so the wait is not too bad! (I picked up KOTOR on a steam sale for $5 3 years ago and still haven't even installed it!)